Revelation 8 is centered around the judgment of God upon the New Testament churches, which began on May 21, 1988. Revelation 9, on the other hand, is focused upon the judgment of God upon the entire world including the churches, which began on May 21, 2011 and continues until the end of the world. It is a period symbolized by 5 months in which salvation has come to an end, and the world is becoming increasingly evil at an alarming rate. It is a time in which the elect are present, but they are not permitted to be spiritually hurt, but the unsaved people of the world are spiritually hurt, for they can no longer be saved. Although many of them seek for salvation during this time, there is none to be found. And, they are tormented - bothered - by the proclamation that Judgment Day has come, and that there is no hope for them unless they were saved prior to May 21, 2011.

Verse 1:

1
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit
.

In this verse, we first read, And the fifth angel sounded. This fifth angel is the fifth angel of the seven angels which are mentioned back in Revelation 8 where we read,

6
And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound
.

We then see in Revelation 8 that the first four angels sound their trumpets, which brings the judgment of God upon all the churches. Then, we read in the last verse of Revelation 8,

13
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound
!

This reveals that the three remaining angels are identified with the three woes. The 5th angel sounding represents the first woe; the 6th angel sounding represents
the 2nd woe; and the 7th angel sounding represents the 3rd woe. Furthermore, whereas the first 4 angels sounding in Revelation 8 represented the judgment of God upon the New Testament churches, the last 3 angels sounding, starting with the 5th angel, represents the judgment of God upon the whole world beginning on May 21, 2011 and running until the end of the world. So when we read that the fifth angel sounded, what follows this sounding will be a description of the judgment of God that began on May 21, 2011, and this is the first woe brought upon the inhabitants of the earth.

Now when the 5th angel sounded in Revelation 9, we read,
and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. Who is this star which fell from heaven? The answer is, Christ. We see Christ represented as a star, for instance, in Numbers 24 where Christ is described as a star out of Jacob:

Nu 24:17
I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob [Christ], and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth
.

We also see Christ described as a star in Revelation 22:

Re 22:16
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I [Christ] am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star
.

And, again, in Revelation 2:

Re 2:28
And I will give him the morning star [Christ]
.

So it is clear that a star can represent Christ, but why does the scripture speak of Christ as a star that fell from heaven? I mean how can Christ be spoken of as someone who fell from heaven? We can understand this when we remember that on May 21, 2011, the stars, including Christ, are declared to have fallen from heaven to symbolize the putting out of the gospel lights and the end to salvation. We read of this in Matthew 24:29:

Mt 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days [on May 21, 2011] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken
. . .

We also read of the stars falling after the tribulation in Mark 13:

Mr 13:
24
But in those days, after that tribulation[after May 21, 2011], the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light
,
25
And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken
.

So the reason why Christ is said to have fallen from heaven is because salvation came to an end on May 21, 2011, and His fall from heaven symbolizes that the light of salvation is no more - this is what the star falling from heaven to the earth represents.

But, now, we read, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. It is interesting to first note that He was given (in the past) the key of the bottomless pit. This would have to be referring to the time in the past when Christ conquered hell and death at Calvary in 33 AD through the payment of sin on behalf of His elect
; this would be when Christ was given the key to the bottomless pit because this is when He gained the right to save a people for Himself from the bottomless pit. From this time forth from the cross, Christ could now either shut the door to the bottomless pit as He did to Satan when He locked him in the bottomless pit at the time of the cross (Rev. 20:1-3), or he could open the door to the bottomless pit as He did to Satan on May 21, 1988 when He loosed him from the bottomless pit in order to bring judgment against the New Testament churches (Rev. 20:7). And, as we will read in the next verse, Christ also opened the bottomless pit on May 21, 2011 to bring judgment upon the whole world. We will say more about this later.

But, let's now attempt to try and get a better understanding of this bottomless pit. We might think that this bottomless pit is just that: a large pit that has no bottom. If so, then we would expect that someone placed in such a bottomless pit would be completely incapacitated and unable to affect anything outside the pit. But that is not what we see in the Bible. For instance, we read that Satan was bound in the bottomless pit in Revelation 20 where we read,

1
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand
.
2
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years
,
3
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season
.

Here Satan was cast into the bottomless pit, and we know from other studies that this took place at the cross. This means that Satan was in prison during the church age from 33 AD to May 21, 1988, and he should not have been able, therefore, to do anything during this time. But that is not what we see, for even though Satan was cast into the bottomless pit, we read that he was still able to go about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour as we read in 1Peter 5:

1Pe 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour
. . .

Now, if Satan was bound in the bottomless pit during the church age, how is it that he was able to walk about, seeking whom he may devour during that time? Obviously, for Satan to have been cast into the bottomless pit does not mean that he was cast into a literal pit without a bottom. No, rather, for Satan to be cast into the bottomless pit meant that he was put into a state or condition of constraint that he should deceive the nations no more in that he could no longer keep the elect from being saved from every nation; it did not mean that he was cast into a literal bottomless pit in which he was completely incapable of doing anything. So what we see, then, is that the bottomless pit cannot be taken literally as a place of confinement, but it is condition or state in which someone or people are placed. In our case here of Satan, that he was cast into the bottomless pit meant that he was put into the condition or state of NOT being able to frustrate the salvation plan of the Lord
in every nation.

But if Satan who was cast into the bottomless pit at the cross meant that he could not frustrate the Lord's plan to save a people for himself from every nation, it also, in principle, put Satan into a state or condition of death, for it was at the cross, when Satan was cast into the pit, that the eventual death of Satan was guaranteed to take place; that is, when Satan was cast into the bottomless pit, his eventual death, or annihilation, was guaranteed, and it was guaranteed to take place after the Lord saved all His elect in the world, which as of May 21, 2011 He has done, and, finally, once the last day of Judgment Day has come. In other words, the bottomless pit is identified with death and destruction in that everyone who is identified with the bottomless pit, which now includes every unsaved person in the world ever since May 21, 2011, are guaranteed to die and be destroyed on the Last Day when they will all be annihilated forevermore. This is the sense in which the pit is bottomless: namely it is endless. Yes, the death which those who are identified with the bottomless pit will undergo on the Last Day is endless
; it is forevermore.

Verse 2:

2
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of agreat furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit
.

Here we find that he [Christ] opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace. The term bottomless pit can be literally translated as the well or pit of the abyss. It can carry in it the notion of being immeasurable, or extremely deep, so the King James translators translated the well of the abyss as the bottomless pit. It is used to signify the place of death or hell as we see in Luke 8:

Lu 8:
30
And Jesus asked him [the demon], saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him
.
31
And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep
.

The deep here are the same words translated as the bottomless pit in our verse, and it is clear in the context of this verse that the deep or bottomless pit relates to the place of hell or death. We see this also in Romans 10:

Ro 10:
6
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above
:)
7
Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead
.)

Notice how the deep in this verse is associated with the place that Christ went in order to pay for our sins. Once again, it is the place of hell and death. So from these two verses, we come to understand that the bottomless pit has to do with death and hell.

Now returning to our verse, which says, And he opened the bottomless pit, we can know that this
means that Christ opened up death and hell to the world. This means that the whole world has been now put into the condition of death and hell ever since May 21, 2011, and, as was mentioned previously, this means that every unsaved person in the whole world no longer has any eternal hope; they are each guaranteed to die in the normal course of their life, and, if not then, then on the Last Day when all people who are identified with the bottomless pit, including Satan, will be forever annihilated. Of course, the elect will not be annihilated since, although they are in the world, they are not a part of the world; they are not identified with the bottomless pit. They shall receive their new spiritual bodies, and will be planted in the new heaven and earth, which will be created for them at this world's end. Amen!

This brings us to the next statement in our verse: we read, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace. The phrase the smoke of a great furnace remind of the judgment that God brought upon Sodom and Gomorrah. We read of this in Genesis 19:

Ge 19:28
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace
.

Yes, smoke in the Bible is here representing the glorious judgment of God, which can be seen in many passages. We see it not only in Genesis 19:28, which was just read, but we see it, for instance, in Psalm 37:

Ps 37:20
But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away
.

And, again, we see it in Psalm 18:

Ps 18:8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it
.

And, as one more example, we read in Nahum 2,

Na 2:13
Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard
.

So what we can conclude from all this is that when the scripture says, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace, it is saying that judgment has now come upon the world ever since May 21, 2011. The pit has been opened, and the Lord's judgment like smoke has filled the world. The Day of Judgment has come!

But, not only was the world filled with the judgment of God on May 21, 2011, but the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. The sun is a representation of Christ Himself as we read in Psalm 84:

Ps 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly
.

And, again, in Malachi 4:

Mal 4:2
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall
.

The Sun in the phrase Sun of righteousness in this verse is spelled the Sun [spelled s-u-n] of righteousness, which obviously identifies the Sun as being Christ Himself. We see also that the sun is a representation of Christ in Revelation 1:

Re 1:16
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength
.

And, finally, in Revelation 10:1, we read,

Re 10:1
And I saw another mighty angel [Christ] come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire
.

So we can clearly see how the sun is symbolic of Christ Himself.

But, now, what does the air represent in our passage. We are told that the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. The sun represents Christ, but what does the air represent? We read in Ephesians 2,

Eph 2:2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience
...

From this verse, we see that Satan is referred to as the prince of the power of the air. In that the air normally refers to the lower atmosphere around us, this is saying that Satan is the prince of the atmospheric zone particularly in which the whole world lives. This is just another way of saying that Satan holds sway over the whole world, and to say that this rule of Satan was darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit is to
say that his kingdom was made all the more sinful; that is, it was darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. What this means is that realm of Satan's kingdom was darkened all the more by sin every since May 21, 2011. It was on this date that the Lord lifted His hand of restraint to sin to a degree, and is now letting the world drift further into their own sin. Yes, the Lord has given the world over to its own devices, and this is why we are seeing a multiplication of sin everywhere like never before in history. Indeed, the air has been darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

But if the air being darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit means that the world has become darkened by its own sinfulness ever since May 21, 2011, what does it mean that the sun was darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit? Since we have already found that the sun represents Christ, for Christ to be darkened is teaching that the light of the gospel (Christ) has been darkened, and there is no more salvation available to the world. This is the same thing that we read of in Matthew 24:29 where we read,

Mt 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken
...

We also read of this in Mark 13:24 where we read,

Mr 13:24
But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light
...

In these verses, we are told that immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened. And, since we know that according to the biblical calendar
the tribulation ended on May 21, 2011, we know that this was when the sun was darkened, which means that this is when salvation came to an end, and this is the context in which Revelation 9 now speaks. Yes, ever since May 21, 2011 the judgment of God has struck the entire world, which has resulted in their progression deeper into sin - the air has been darkened - without any possibility of salvation - the sun has been darkened - for anyone who was not saved before May 21, 2011. Yes, the sun and the air have been darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

Verse 3:

3
And there came out of the smokelocusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, asthe scorpions of the earth have power
.

Here in this verse we are now told that there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth. Since we already had learned that the smoke is symbolic of the judgment of the Lord, we are being told here that locusts came out from the judgment of God. In other words, these locusts are associated with the judgment of God. But what could these locusts represent? Many have been taught that these locusts are actually the elect who have been unleashed on the world to torment them with the words and teachings of the Bible, but there are good reasons to say that this is not the case, and that the locusts simply represent the very judgment of God itself (click on Who Are The Locusts of Revelation 9?
). This can be seen in part in that the locusts are said to have attributes like unto the elect, yes, but that does not mean that they are the elect. For instance, and as we will see, the locusts have as it were crowns like gold, faces as the faces of men, hair as the hair of women, and teeth as the teeth of lions (verses 7-8). Each of these attributes in themselves is normally identified with being those
attributes of the elect, but notice that each attribute is qualified by the preposition as or like. In other words, the locusts don't have actual crowns of gold, the faces of men, the hair of women, and the teeth of lions as the elect would have, but they have as it were crowns like gold, faces as the faces of men, hair as the hair of women, and teeth as the teeth of lions. This makes the locusts out to be something other than
the
elect because the elect would not just have crowns like gold, faces as the faces of men, hair as the hair of women, and teeth as the teeth of lions, but they would have actual crowns of gold, the faces of men, the hair of women, and the teeth of lions. We must conclude, then, that the locusts are not the elect (click on Who Are the Locusts of Revelation 9?
), but they are simply symbolic of the judgment of God that has overcome the world ever since May 21, 2011.

Now we read, and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. The word translated as power can just as well be translated as authority, so we are being told that the locusts; that is, the judgment of God was given authority, as the scorpions of the earth have power [authority]. Now the term scorpions are symbolic of false prophets or demonic powers. For instance, we read in Ezekiel 2:

Eze 2:6
And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions[false prophets or brethren]: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house
.

And, in Luke 10, we see that scorpions symbolize demonic powers:

Luke 10:17
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils [demons] are subject unto us through thy name
.
18
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven
.
19
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions [demons], and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you
.

So what our verse is revealing is that the judgment of God (the locusts) has power and authority as the false prophets and demonic forces have power and authority. But how do the false prophets and demonic forces have power and authority? Well, they have power and authority to lead people into false gospels that cannot save. So how is it that the judgment of God has this same power? Well, because the judgment of God is that salvation has come to an end ever since May 21, 2011. So, just as false prophets and demons cannot save anyone, so, too, the judgment of God cannot save anyone. This is, indeed, how the power of the judgment of God (the power of the locusts) is the same as the power of false brethren and demons (the power of scorpions): neither can save anyone during this time in the Day of Judgment.

Verse 4:

4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads
.

Now, in this verse, we read that it was commanded them [the locusts] that they [the locusts] should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. Now, since we know that those men which have NOT the seal of God in their foreheads are referring to all the unsaved people of the world, we also know that the grass of the earth, any green thing, and any tree must be referring to the opposite of this, which are all the saved people in the world. So what we are being told by this verse is that the judgment of God (represented by the locusts) is commanded to NOT hurt any of the elect, but only all the unsaved people in the world. And just why does the Day of Judgment hurt the unsaved people of the world, and not the saved? Why, because there is no longer any salvation ever since May 21, 2011. This hurts the unsaved people of the world because they no longer have any hope for eternal life, and are, therefore, guaranteed to surely die, but this does not hurt the saved people now in the world because they have already
been saved before May 21, 2011, and are, therefore, guaranteed eternal life during the Day of Judgment, so they will surely live. Judgment Day, then, hurts the unsaved, but the saved, it does not hurt at all. Yes, the locusts, which symbolize the judgment of God, have come upon all the unsaved as a dark cloud ever since May 21, 2011, and this hurts them because it means that they cannot be saved, and so must surely die, but to the saved, the elect, Judgment Day does nothing to remove salvation from them, so they remain unhurt, and they will surely live.

But, let's now see why the grass of the earth, any green thing, and any tree can symbolize the elect who are not hurt by Judgment Day. First, we can see that the grass can represent the elect in Matthew 13, where we read,

Mt 13:26
But when the blade [grass] was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also
.

In this verse we find that the blade (grass) is identified with the fruit, for we read that when the blade [grass] was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. The tares, of course, represent the unsaved (Mt. 13:8); so the blade (grass) from which springs up the fruit must represent the saved. Hence, we see that the grass symbolizes the elect, the saved. We see this also in Mark 4:

Mr 4:28
For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade [grass], then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear
.

Once again the blade (grass) is identified with the fruit, for we read, first the blade [of grass], then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. So it all starts with the blade of grass, which then becomes the ear of corn, from which comes the full corn. So we see that the blade of grass is clearly identified with the final fruit, which represents the elect. Therefore, the grass is here identified with the elect.

But, now, how does any green thing identify with being the elect? Well, to simplify this whole topic, something that is green is symbolic of having spiritual life, and the elect have that spiritual life, so any green thing can represent the very elect themselves. For instance, we read about the feeding of the 5,000 in Mark 6, where we read,

Mr 6:39
And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass
.

Now why did He have them sit down upon the green
grass? He did this because the green grass represents the elect, and what Christ was about to do by the feeding of the 5,000 was to reveal how the elect as symbolized by the 5,000 would be spiritually fed. Therefore, he had them sit down on the green grass to identify them with being a symbol of the elect, and then He fed them to symbolize how the elect would be spiritually fed. First, the bread is broken to symbolize the death - broken body - of Christ for the sins of His people, and then Christ distributes the bread to His disciples who then distribute the bread to the others. The result is that the bread is miraculously multiplied and gets distributed to all of His elect who are represented by the 5,000 being identified with the green grass.

Okay, now that we have gotten an idea of how the grass of the earth and any green thing can represent the elect, how can any tree represent the elect? This is probably the easiest question to answer because trees are symbolic of people throughout the Bible, and so there is no wonder as to why trees can represent the elect. For instance, we read about trees being symbolic of either true or false prophets in Matthew 7:

7:15
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep�s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves
.
16
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles
?
17
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit
.
18
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit
.
19
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire
.
20
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them
.

The point being in all this is simply that any tree can be a good tree, and so it can represent the elect. As one more example of the many which could be given, Psalm 1 declares,

1
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful
.
2
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night
.
3
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper
.

Here we see that the one who delights in the law of the Lord (one of the elect) will be like a tree planted by rivers of water. We see, then, that any tree can represent the elect. So, to summarize, all three of the following can symbolize the elect: grass of the earth, any green thing, and any tree.

Now let's return to our verse and apply what we have learned. Our verse reads,

4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads
.

Now we know that when the locusts - the judgment of God - are commanded to not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, they are being commanded not to hurt the elect. This is something that we had already previously learned simply based on the context of the verse, but now we see it even more clearly. The locusts, which symbolize the judgment of God wherein there is no more salvation ever since May 21, 2011, are commanded not to hurt the elect because the fact that there is no more salvation ever since May 21, 2011 cannot hurt the elect, for they were all saved before that time. Nevertheless, no salvation ever since May 21, 2011 greatly effects the unsaved people, namely those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads, because there is no longer any hope for anyone of them to be saved for eternal life. They are all destined for death, and there is nothing that can possibly change that. They will either die in the normal course of their lives, or, if they still remain at the coming of the Lord, they will die on the Last Day when they and this entire creation will be destroyed to give way for the new heaven and earth in which righteousness will dwell forevermore.

Verse 5:

5
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man
.

Now we read, And to them it was given that they should not kill them. This reveals that the locusts, which represent the judgment of God, were not permitted to kill the unsaved people of the world. Now if we are to take the word kill in the literal sense, then this is simply saying that the judgment of God was not permitted to physically kill the unsaved people ever since May 21, 2011. But we know that the focus of this passage is spiritual, so this is not saying that the judgment of God was not able to physically kill the unsaved people of the world, although I suppose that could be said, but it is saying that it was not able to spiritually kill the unsaved people of the world. What can this mean? Remember when we learned that for the elect to be cast out of the churches was to spiritually kill them? We read in John 16,

Joh 16:2
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service
.

Here it appears that the being put out of the synagogues (or churches) is equivalent to being killed. So if the elect being cast out of the churches is the same as their being killed, what does it mean that the unsaved of the world were not permitted to be killed? Well, it would have to mean that the judgment of God was not permitted to cast the unsaved out from their false religions, beliefs and philosophies. In other words, the unsaved of the world have been permitted to continue in all their false religions and beliefs even though Judgment Day has come upon them, and this is exactly what we see: everything appears to be continuing as it was before May 21, 2011, for the judgment of God was not permitted to spiritually kill them. We still see people locked into their false religions; we still see people locked into their false belief systems such as atheism, agnosticism, evolution, Catholicism, Mormonism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism, or any other of all the other false belief systems that have been contrived by the sinful hearts of wicked human beings. This is all because when Judgment Day came on May 21, 2011, the judgment was not allowed to spiritually kill all the unsaved of the world, but thy have been permitted to continue even though such continuance is actually death, and they are all actually spiritually dead and don't even know it. But they have all been permitted to continue as such until the Last Day when all things shall be revealed, and all truth will come to light. Until then, the judgment of God - the locusts - is not permitted to kill them, but, as we read in our verse, that they should be tormented five months.

Now what does it mean that they are tormented 5 months? In answer to this question, we must first realize that the 5 months is not a literal 5 months. The number 5 can be symbolic of either judgment or redemption (see
Meaning of Bible Number 5
), and, since the context of Revelation 9 is that of judgment, we know that the 5 months must be interpreted to symbolize an unknown length of time represented by the months when the world is under judgment represented by the number 5. This unknown length of time we now know to run from May 21, 2011 until the very end of the world, which might be as soon as October 6, 2015 (see verse 20 of
Revelation 14 Part 3
and
Could The End Come On October 6, 2015?).

Next, we need to define what it means that the unsaved are tormented during the 5 months; that is, from May 21, 2011 to the end of the world. Obviously, we do not now see the unsaved being physically tormented; we do not see anything out of the ordinary being physically done to them. So how are the unsaved people being tormented in these days? We realize the answer to this when we look at Revelation 11 where we read,

Re 11:10
And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth
.

Now these two prophets, which represent the Word of God, did not torment them physically, but mentally. As the Word of God was proclaimed, it tormented or bothered the unsaved people of the world. Likewise, as the Word of God is proclaimed during this time of judgment ever since May 21, 2011, it bothers or torments the unsaved people. They don't like hearing that they no longer have any possibility for salvation; they don't like hearing that they are under the wrath of God; and they abhor the idea that they will soon be annihilated. They just simply do not like the Word of God, and to have to hear it bothers them. This has always been the case throughout history: the unsaved people of the world hate having to hear the Word of God, and the more the Word of God comes forth, the more torment they experience because as we read in Hebrews 4,

Heb 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
.

Now we are told in the last part of our verse, and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. Since, as we have already learned, a scorpion is symbolic of a false prophet or a demonic power, to say that the torment of the unsaved during this time is as the torment of a scorpion when he strikes a man is to say that it is like the torment of a false prophet or demonic power. But just how can the torment of the Word of God during Judgment Day be as the torment of a scorpion when he strikes a man? The only way this can be is because neither the Word of God nor the false prophet or demonic power can save anyone during this Day of Judgment. In this way the torment of the Word of God is the same as the torment of a false prophet, and whenever the unsaved are told that they cannot now possibly be saved, it strikes them as a scorpion or false prophet would strike a man; it insures that none of them will ever become saved ever again.

Now may the LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.